Tap Into the Power of Unreal Engine 4 as a Gaming Platform

August 5, 2014

7:30 pm

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Talk about computer games and you will have thousands of people talking about their favorite ones and excitingly sharing their experiences and winning strategies but only a few are really interested about the backend or the technology that goes into making the games. However, when it is Unreal Engine, things become different. The launch of the 4th version of the Unreal Engine created unprecedented hype in the market highlighting how it would create new frontiers in gaming experience. The investors were certainly lured into investing in platforms that run on this new version of gaming.

What is Unreal Engine 4?

Unreal Engine 4 is simply a set of tools and technologies that is used for developing high-quality games. What makes it so special or popular is its ability to being adapted across different platforms.

The backbone of UE4 is C++ source codes that make the gaming tool robust and also very creative. The architecture behind this gaming software enables developers to create stunning visuals. The beauty of Unreal Engine 4 is lies in the fact that developers can anytime scale down to lower-end systems.

The workflow features of the newly released version are nothing less than revolutionary as developers can work on new ideas and check the results immediately. This only speeds up the development process and also generates more satisfaction.

Before we delve deeper into the architecture and benefits of Unreal Engine 4, let’s explore its background and how it came into its present form.

Unreal Engine – a long journey

The Unreal Engine was developed by Epic Games and was first used in 1998 in a game called Unreal. It was an instant success as it became one of the most popular first-person shooter games. It was also used in various other genres like RPGs, stealth and MMORPGs. Since it is written in C++, it is highly portable and that increased its acceptability to game developers.

Advanced versions of this gaming tool namely, 1, 2 and 3 were released later on that gave developers opportunities to create more interesting and challenging games. With each version, the sophistication increased and Unreal Engine went on riding the popularity chart.

Unreal Engine’s first generation saw integration of file system management, networking, scripting, and rendering and collision detection in one engine, thus giving developers a new field to get creative with their ideas.

In the subsequent versions, Unreal Engine worked upon its engine and made it more advanced and feature-rich. It increased its support base and was adopted for GameCube and Xbox.

With the launch of the UE4, it seems that the new age gaming tools have finally arrived. This is the platform for gaming that people have been waiting for.

What makes Unreal Engine 4 so unique?

In UE4, the iteration time has been drastically reduced and the C++ codes can be directly updated. The debugger “Blueprints” comes as a boon to developers who can now visualize their codes while testing. To make any changes, they only need to change the source code. The game world can be changed easily by clicking the elements directly.

The greatest change that has been observed in UE4 is its capability to blur the divide between programmers, artists and designers. With visual tools to test and change codes and also change the elements by clicking, UE4 reduces the time that developers need to compile codes and tweak settings in real time.

Through the years, UE has kept on adding to its support systems. The earlier versions were made compatible with Windows, Xbox 360, Playstation platforms and later on included Android and iOS too. OS X support was added to UE3 in 2011. Today UE is compatible with Adobe Flash Player and RealID 3D stereoscopic technology and also browsers that run on HTML5 and JavaScript technologies.

UE4 boasts to be a complete technology that is instilled with the rich experience of Epic in developing some of the epic games of the time.

The availability of source code of C++ gives developers complete flexibility and full control over their schedules and destinies. No matter, what you require to put in your game, you will find it in UE4. There is the GitHub community also that can help you with any code also. You can always create something new and share it with others.

UE4 offers an ecosystem to the developers and creative people to chat and share problems, add to the wiki files and also participate in joint development programs. An entire world of gaming challenges is waiting for you to explore at UE4.

There are a lot on offer in terms of game templates and samples and readymade content. The games like Angels in the Sky and Tappy Chicken that run on iPhone 5s is a fine example of what you can do with UE4. Games built with Unreal Engine 4 usually have great graphics and are fast paced to emulate real world situations. As a gaming platform, UE4 ensures complete flexibility and adaptability to developers. It is easy to use, fast to debug and designing is made simpler with the latest tools. It supports a wide range of OS and hence is highly recommendable. Unreal Engine 4 is the perfect gaming suite that a developer needs to unleash his creativity and bring real time experiences to the game lovers.